‘Dabangg 3’ to ‘Panipat’: Movies that courted controversies this year

Bollywood movies have often courted controversies prior to their release. Some have accused of hurting religious sentiments, while others have been labeled as insensitive to social issues.

2019 was no different and as the year ends, here is a whole list of Bollywood movies that created a stir but not for the right reasons.

Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao's  'Judgemental Hai Kya' was embroiled in a number of controversies prior to its release. The movie’s title was earlier ‘Mental Hai Kya' which a lot of mental health activists had objection to as it belittle mental illness. The title was eventually changed to 'Judgemental Hai Kya', after the Central Board of Film Certification found it a "little harsh".

The film’s lead actress Kangana Ranaut had a spat with a journalist at the song launch event of the film. 'The Queen' actress accused the journalist of giving negative reviews to her previous film 'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi' and the section of the media even declared to boycott the film.

Soon after the film’s release, a European artist accused the makers of 'Judgemental Hai Kya' of plagiarism. Flora Borsi, a photographer and artist based in Hungary, shared one of the posters of the film and took to Twitter to point out the stark similarities with one of her works. Borsi has claimed that the filmmakers used her work as a reference without her permission.

'Super 30' had a tough journey before its release. The biopic which is based on Anand Kumar a Patna based teacher was earlier scheduled to release in 2018 but its filmmaker Vikas Bahl was accused of sexual harassment during the #MeToo movement and was asked to step down from the film till inquiry on the matter was completed.

Then later, four students of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati filled PIL and accused Anand Kumar fraudulent activity and demanded a ban on the release of the film. 

Controversy’s favorite child Kangana Ranaut also faced opposition for her film ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’ as faction group Shri Rajput Karni Sena claimed that the film had shown Queen Laxmibai dancing in one of the sequences. The group claimed that it was against the tradition and asked the makers of the film to show them the movie before its release.

Reacting their claims, Kangana had said, “I am a Rajput and I will destroy them.” Later though, Shri Rajput Karni Sena claimed that it was not involved in the protests against the movie but demanded an apology from Kangana for making harsh statements against their organization.

Kartik Aryan is always known for his famous monologues, but this time the monologue drew a lot of flak. The movie come under scrutiny just after the release of the trailer.  The trailer showed a 2 minutes monologue by Aaryan where his character mocked the marital rape- much to the discomfort of people on social media. After facing severe backlash, the makers of the film had to alter the dialogue before the film's release.

Period drama movies tend to get embroiled in controversy owing to the period they are set in. Arjun Kapoor's film 'Panipat' landed in controversy just after its release. Several Jat groups objected and started a protest to remove a scene of Raja Surjamal as they claimed the film showed him in a bad light and depicted a false story that the King’s descendants claimed never happened in reality. Owing to the protests, the film’s director Ashutosh Gowarikar removed the scene from the movie.
 

Salman Khan starrer ‘Dabangg 3’ is yet to hit the theatres but the film has already courted controversy. The Hindu Samiti has raised an objection against a song in the film where Sadhus can be seen dancing with Salman Khan in the song 'Hud Hud Dabangg'. The group has claimed that the sequence hurts the religious sentiments of the Hindus.